Wednesday, February 27, 2013

After 70 years in Babylon, almost 49,000 people returned from exile to Jerusalem to begin rebuilding. Even though they had been in captivity in a foreign land, 70 years is a lifetime, and Babylon had been the only home that most of those travelers had known. This traveling brood left their known zones and ventured together in community to do God's work in unfamiliar and sometimes hostile territory.

A good word for us today, as we, too, are called to follow Christ together outside of our comfort zones in order to travel the distance across cultural, racial, socio-economic expanses so that we might join Him in rebuilding lives, relationships, and cities through Christ.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Corrie Ten Boom was in her 50's when she wrote The Hiding Place, and she preached Christ's message of forgiveness to audiences until she died at age 91.

Laura Ingalls Wilder penned the first book of the "Little House" series when she was 65 years old.

Colonel Sanders started Kentucky Fried Chicken when he was in his 60's.

Ronald Reagan was first elected into a political office when he was 55 years old.

In Joshua 14:10-11, Caleb states, "...So here I am today, 85 years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out (45 years earlier); I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then."

I heard these descriptions in a Bible Study this morning. These individuals inspire me! On this discipleship journey with Christ, I'm just now starting to catch on! At 47, I feel I am only just beginning to live more fully surrendered and into the calling God has for me. I sure do prefer to look at the examples listed above than the cultural examples of twin recliners and gated retirement villages! These people stepped into their prime and were most fruitful AFTER age 50. Woo-hoo! God willing, you and I will do the same!

Monday, February 25, 2013

I am reading a book called Unexpected News: Reading the Bible with Third World Eyes by Robert McAfee Brown. In his first chapter, he writes about how knowing and doing are related. He shares that in our American culture, we tend to try to build up a body of knowledge and principles first, often in as detached a way as possible, and then apply and draw from this knowledge bank when it seems right. By doing this, we can often postpone action because it just doesn't seem to be a "right" time. He then goes on to write,

"Christians in a third world are trying to relate thinking and doing in a different way. For them, as Gustavo Gutierrez, a Roman Catholic priest in Peru, has said, 'Theology is always the second act,' not the first. What comes first is commitment, which in his situation means commitment to, and involvement with, the poor and oppressed. It is in the midst of the struggle of the poor for justice that theological reflection takes place. There is an ongoing relationship between 'reflection and action' in which each continually informs and empowers the other: the more fully we act, the more fruitfully we can reflect on the meaning of our action and find ways to to act more effectively next time; the more deeply we reflect, the more fruitfully we can embody the reflection in action and learn to reflect still more effectively. It is a process that never ends."

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Deuteronomy 16:18-20 "Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly. Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you."Luke 4:18-19 (Jesus's quotes from Isaiah 61) "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

(In December 2006, I visited Kit Danley of Neighborhood Ministries in Phoenix, AZ. As we visited, she recommended that I read through the Bible and highlight all of the Scripture passages that spoke of God's heart of compassion and justice. In 2007, I did just that.In 2008, I attended a workshop at a CCDA conference in which the facilitator instructed the class to work in pairs to name as many Scriptures (by reference or by text) that had to do with God's heart of compassion and justice.The two exercises above have impacted me, and over the past five years, my eyes have been opened in a whole new way as I spend time in God's Word. I am going to spend Saturdays this year sharing Scripture passages on the blog, one OT and one NT, that help lay the Biblical foundation for compassion and justice; Scripture that describes God's character and His imperatives for His people.)

Thursday, February 21, 2013

CULTIVATE: to foster growth; to tend, prepare and improve

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has appointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” - Isaiah 61:1

For a quarter of a century CCDA has proclaimed this passage by word and deed. Men and women across the country and around the world have been given grace, and in turn, together offer Good News to the poor. We live in under-resourced neighborhoods, challenge racism, represent and present the love of Jesus, and involve ourselves in issues of justice. As a result, life is cultivated in the hearts of the poor and in devastated places “bestowing crowns of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair.”Isaiah 61:3The cultivated ones – “the planting” – who are identified as “Oaks of Righteousness”, display the splendor, beauty, grace, and power of the Lord. They are being renewed by the Spirit and are endowed with spiritual power to further cultivate hope and change, reclaiming our wasted cities.

We must cultivate these “Oaks of Righteousness” because Isaiah 61:4 is clear, “They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”

This year at the 25th CCDA National Conference we will:

Remind ourselves it is the Spirit of God who calls us, breaks our hearts, and sustains us as we cultivate in our communities

Renew our vision to cultivate the lives and communities around us

Deepen our understanding of how our work is tied to God’s coming Kingdom

Respond to the mandate that we must identify, support, and train leaders indigenous to our communities

Join us in New Orleans, September 11-14, 2013

Registration opens March 1

Ezra 1:6-8 “..all their neighbors assisted them with articles
of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in
addition to all the freewill offerings. Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple
of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had
placed in the temple of his god. Cyrus King of Persia had them brought
by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of
Judah.”

These verses are a great picture of how God works to rebuild and be about Christian community development in His communities. He calls and sends a group of people to go, to incarnate, to be in the trenches rebuilding; and He also calls a group of people to assist, support, and resource. Notice that God even uses King Cyrus, a nonbeliever, as a partner and key player in His plan.

Our two teenagers and I are currently planning a trip with friends at church to visit ministry partners in Haiti in April. As we gather others for prayer and financial support, these verses help tell the story of what God not only did back in the day of Ezra, but is also doing today as He rebuilds this Haitian village. Take a look at this 3 minute video clip to see God's power in good neighboring and collaboration!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Yes, I've read When Helping Hurts, and I've been on a journey of examining a continuum of service that, even with really good hearts and intentions, actually perpetuates brokenness and division on the one end to the way of service that heals, develops, and reconciles people on the other end. So, with a growing awareness of what is and what is not defined as "good serving", I want to emphasize something else:the need for and the power of the "first serve" or the serving "on-ramps" toward missional living.

Today, I served with a young friend for one hour at our local Northeast Iowa Food Bank in town. We met and served with other junior highers from a YWCA program and a couple of UNI students who are social services majors. One of the great benefits of serving in the community for me is that it has always given me an opportunity to meet people I would otherwise likely not have intersected with in life.

As I watched these teenagers serve today, I thought about how God worked through serving experiences in my youth....
1. He used serving experiences of my childhood to grow compassion in my heart.
2. Serving helped me see early on that there were differences between my life experiences and others' life experiences. This caused me to begin reflecting and asking questions.
3. Scripture came to life for me as I would read about this Jesus who spent his whole life serving and giving, and as I read verse after verse about a God who cares deeply for those who are marginalized and who suffer in oppression and poverty. God used serving to reveal to me Himself and His work to passionately set things right through Jesus.

When I was a youth director, God used serving in our community to help shape the teens' worldview and to grow them spiritually. He also used serving to help people in our community experience a tangible touch of God's kindness and love.

Moving from the "unacceptable here" of our world to the Kingdom vision of "there" will require significant change to happen, but like every journey of a thousand miles, it begins with a single step and continues step after step. Today reminded me that we cannot forget to offer the very tangible, very simple service on-ramps for young and old alike so that God might continue to lead us on this journey of growing His heart of compassion and justice within us....step by step.

Monday, February 18, 2013

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the
children of men and women as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run
than outright exposure. Life is either a
daring adventure or nothing." –Helen
Keller

A friend sent me this quote after the first of the year. My perceptions of security and safety in this world have been and continue to be challenged by God over the past decade. I'm recognizing that setting up life to live in somewhat of an elusive bubble of worldly safety and security so to avoid danger has in fact created a more dangerous world. As we live in segregated, isolated, exclusive ways throughout our communities, we place notions of peace, hope, and reconciliation on endangered lists.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Deuteronomy 10:17-20 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. Fear the Lord your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name. Luke 14:12-14 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

(In December 2006, I visited Kit Danley of Neighborhood Ministries in Phoenix, AZ. As we visited, she recommended that I read through the Bible and highlight all of the Scripture passages that spoke of God's heart of compassion and justice. In 2007, I did just that.In 2008, I attended a workshop at a CCDA conference in which the facilitator instructed the class to work in pairs to name as many Scriptures (by reference or by text) that had to do with God's heart of compassion and justice.The two exercises above have impacted me, and over the past five years, my eyes have been opened in a whole new way as I spend time in God's Word. I am going to spend Saturdays this year sharing Scripture passages on the blog, one OT and one NT, that help lay the Biblical foundation for compassion and justice; Scripture that describes God's character and His imperatives for His people.)

Thursday, February 14, 2013

My friend Alizae and I got a tour yesterday of KBBG radio station in Waterloo. Mrs. Lou Porter showed us around, and we ended our time by watching Lou's 8 year old great-granddaughter, Zoe, and a friend, Kenzie, read books for a pre-recorded taping of Zoe's Book Club which airs every Saturday at 11 a.m.

Since she's been six years old, Zoe has gathered young friends and good books and has shared good literature and her passion for reading to a listening audience.

She also read Young Rosa Parks while Kenzie read the first chapter of a chapter book when it was her turn.

I loved watching these young girls confidently speak into the microphone in the studio. I loved listening to Mrs. Porter speak of Zoe and her younger sister's competencies around the technical aspects at the station. I was impressed to hear about the empowerment of many young people through their involvement at KBBG over the years.

If you want to listen to Zoe read her stories, tune into FM 88.1 KBBG every Saturday at 11 a.m. CST.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

As 2013 kicked off last month, I began to pray about where in the Bible I should devote some focused time this year. After about six weeks of praying and discerning, I have landed on five OT books of the Bible that I'm going to study in some depth for a season: Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah, Nehemiah, and Malachi...all books centered on God's commissioning His people to REBUILD the temple and the wall in Jerusalem. I hope to journey into these books with a Christian community development lens and share some impressions Wednesdays on the blog.

God is in Charge!

Ezra 1:1 "In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm..."Ezra 1:5 "Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites- everyone whose heart God had moved- prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.
The scope of God's sovereignty is so beyond my understanding! His ability to move hearts, minds, and lives (believers and nonbelievers alike) to fulfill His purposes without any of our own conscious doing is so awesome. Verses like these above help me to trust God in His perfect timing and plan. And verses like these give me comfort when I feel like I'm "missing it". Verses like these humble me when I get a faulty thought process that I have to make something happen or that something is "all up to me." God is so much bigger and able than my limited and self-reliant mind can ever hope for or imagine.

As we work toward Christ's shalom and community strengthening, I find these verses in Ezra encourage me toward faith and anticipation that God, in His power and timing, WILL act to move hearts and lives for the rebuilding that is needed.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Richard Twiss passed away Saturday from a heart attack. I'd heard him speak at two CCDA national conferences, and he opened my eyes to both the oppression that native peoples have suffered, and to the road forward toward reconciliation through the contributions and beauty of diverse cultures as they celebrate rich faith in Jesus Christ. Below are some quotes from his book, One Church Many Tribes.

“Native people have a rich spiritual and cultural heritage. It is into this reality that the Creator sent His Son. This was done in order to make a way for all people to once again travel the path of beauty and harmony that God the Father intended all of His children to live in and walk in through Jesus Christ, the Waymaker. Jesus is our chanku – the way to God and to successful living. This is the Jesus Way.”

“Our value as a people is determined by God’s sovereign will and design, and His kingdom finds its value in its people – all of them.”

“I believe that the greatest challenge facing Native peoples is the unresolved anger, distrust, hatred and bitterness in our hearts toward Euro-Americans, based on centuries of injustice and oppression….I am hoping that there will be heard in the land, in our generation, a corporate crying out to God the Father in confession and repentance for our sins, seeking forgiveness and reconciliation…those who have suffered the most are the nonbelieving Native men and women who have been deprived, not only of economic well being, but also of every vestige of true self worth, because they do not know the love of Jesus who alone gives all worth and dignity.”

“This conflict between the integrated worldviews of the Indian and the compartmentalized worldviews of most Western Evangelicals has been among the greatest hindrances to effective communication between the White man and Native people. It has also proven a tremendous obstacle to the growth of Native people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, for to them it means they must abandon their entire approach to community and spirit to accept a way that feels foreign and unnatural to them.”

“I now want to show, as clearly as I can, how many Native cultural viewpoints are in fact quite biblical, valuable and even necessary for the life and growth of the Church in North America today….most North American tribes were monotheistic, believing in one universal, absolute being who furnished moral guidelines for their conduct and who motivated every living thing…..Native Americans see themselves as a part of the whole creation. They have long perceived and pursued a balanced relationship between man and the environment – a partnership of equality and respect….traditional Native culture has always emphasized the submission of individuality to corporate identity – seeing ourselves as one of the people…that togetherness is more important than our individuality, that we are members one with another…

“the peoples of this world are deeply wounded and tormented by unresolved offenses and guilt…Human beings created in the image of God are designed for the purpose of walking in harmony with their creator….this is a reconciled life.”

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Harvest Vineyard friends reach out regularly in their Walnut neighborhood to show and tell of the love of Jesus Christ. Today, several friends from Harvest showed up around the corner from the church at the Walnut Court Retirement Apartment Community. The children from Harvest brought handmade Valentine cards, they sang and danced, and other Harvest friends brought strawberry shortcake, good conversation, and some oldies but goodies for a Sing-a-Long. It was a great time to meet some of neighbors who live at Walnut Court!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Deuteronomy 24:19 When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings.

Luke 11:42 "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others."

(In December 2006, I visited Kit Danley of Neighborhood Ministries in Phoenix, AZ. As we visited, she recommended that I read through the Bible and highlight all of the Scripture passages that spoke of God's heart of compassion and justice. In 2007, I did just that. In 2008, I attended a workshop at a CCDA conference in which the facilitator instructed the class to work in pairs to name as many Scriptures (by reference or by text) that had to do with God's heart of compassion and justice. The two exercises above have impacted me, and over the past five years, my eyes have been opened in new ways as I spend time in God's Word. I am going to spend Saturdays this year sharing Scripture passages on the blog, one OT and one NT, that help lay the Biblical foundation for compassion and justice; Scripture that describes God's character and the mandates He has for His people.)